


Swan Princess: Once Upon Broadway

by JET_MacLeod



Series: Swan Princess [2]
Category: Glee, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-11 07:12:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8965399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JET_MacLeod/pseuds/JET_MacLeod
Summary: Belle comes back to New York to find Coraline to convince her to find her way back to the Enchanted Forest.  Coraline, who has been living as Danni Gallia in New York, a wealthy heiress and friend and flatmate to Rachel and Quinn, is a Broadway producer with a sketchy past who looks to convey True Love on stage.  Rachel is the lead in her newest play, which is closing soon.  Quinn is one of her writers and a novelist.  Santana is head of her legal department and Brittany is her chorographer.  It is a match made in Broadway Heaven until Belle shows up to bring her home to the Enchanted Forest and back to Will.





	1. Chapter 1

They were just about to head to the club from the last presentation of Danni’s latest Broadway hit.  Rachel and Quinn were happy and waiting for Danni backstage.  Rachel had already changed.  They were going out and having the final cast and crew party.  Danni had rented out a club for the night, much to Rachel and Quinn’s surprise.  They were all buzzing about the Tonys and how they were all going to win, Rachel for lead actress and score, Quinn for writing and score, and Danni for direction, score and writing.  They were Broadway’s newest dream team and they were working it for all it was worth.  They were happy and they had plenty of reason to be.

They got out of limo that Danni had rented them for the night.  Rachel was on Quinn’s arm and they were doing their best to hook Danni up with someone from the play.  Danni, of course, wasn’t cooperating.  She loved her friends, but she wasn’t ready to move on.

The three hit the bar and ordered drinks.  Danni got a whiskey while, Quinn and Rachel were sipping on Rum and Cokes.  They were heading to the table that was reserved for them.  Danni was watching the crowd like she always did.  Quinn and Rachel watched her watching everyone else.

They made their normal speeches.  Two years and the “family” was breaking up until Quinn and Danni came up with another one for them.  It was emotional in the room, but no one was crying.  They were all happy, taking pictures and getting pleasantly drunk.  For Danni, it was just another chapter in her life.  For Rachel and Quinn, it the end of one project and the beginning of a much needed vacation.

They were sitting at their table talking about what they were going to do with their new found time off, enjoying their drinks, and laughing.  Quinn watched as every part of Danni tensed.  She elbowed Rachel who turned around to face them and she saw it, too.  They turned to see what Danni was staring at when they say a petite woman, no more than thirty with piercing blue eyes and auburn hair standing in the door way of the club.  Danni seemed to be transfixed.

“Who is she?” Rachel asked Quinn.

“I don’t know.  I’ve never seen her before.  But, it is obvious that Danni knows her,” Quinn replied.

Danni shifted uncomfortably in her chair.  Rachel shot her a look, but she didn’t explain anything to Rachel or Quinn about her countenance.  She just sat stock still and with incredibly perfect posture.

Rachel, being the inquisitive person that she was, stood up and headed for the woman.  Quinn just smiled and watching her as she went.  She leaned over to Danni, hoping that she would answer the question once it was asked. 

“You want to tell me who that is before Rachel gets back with her?” Quinn questioned.

“For lack of  a better term, she’s my step-mother,” Danni told her.

Their eyes met.  Deep brown worried the hazel, but Quinn decided to wait to push her friend about the woman.  She seemed visibly upset by seeing her.  She knew that Danni was secretive about her family life and everything before they ‘met in New York.  She just always assumed that they were dead because of the small fortune that Danni used to bankroll their lives.  but the appearance of this woman was throwing some serious kinks in the stories that Danni had told them.

“Is there anything that you want to tell me about her?”

“She shouldn’t be here.  There is no way that she should be here.  They’re all gone.  How did she get back?  Why is she here?  She can’t be here.  I have to go.  I...Quinn.  I’m sorry.  Tell Rach...I can’t...I just can’t do this right now.  I am sorry,” Danni told her as she stood up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Quinn demanded.

“I’ll go back to the lofts.  I can’t see her.  Not tonight.  I am sorry....”

“Stop apologizing.  Danni and tell me something that I can work with.  Rachel is going to bring her over her and she is going to get the woman to talk.  So tell me something that I can use to buy you some time, because we both know that Rachel isn’t going to give up until she finds out what she wants to know about this whole situation.  She’s like a dog with a bone.   Give me something that will knock Rach of her scent long enough until I can her home,” Quinn told her.

Danni looked at her friend.  She knew that she owed her some sort of explanation for her behavior but she couldn’t think of a single reason that they would understand.  Danni wasn’t like them.  She wasn’t from here.  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape her past.  It always came calling and this time she knew that she couldn’t not answer.  Something was wrong back at home for “step-mother” to have come to get her.

“Danni...”

“Quinn, how old do I look to you?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer it please,” Danni demanded.

“I don’t know, thirty-ish?”

“I wish that was the case.  I am a lot old than I appear.  I am also not from here.”

“What the Hell does that mean?” Quinn asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“You know all those stories and fairy tales that you learned as a kid’7”

“Yeah,” Quinn replied.

“What if I told you that they weren’t just stories?”

“What are you trying to say?” Quinn questioned, cocking her eyebrow.

Danni didn’t have time to answer.  Rachel was back at the table with the other woman in tow.  When Quinn saw her, she couldn’t help but see her beauty.  She turned back to Danni who just paled as the woman sat down beside Rachel.  That was when Quinn realized that Rachel didn’t see what the woman’s presence was doing to Danni.

“So, Danni, why didn’t you tell us that you had a sister and that she was in town?” Rachel asked her.

“Because she shouldn’t be here.  I haven’t seen her in ages,” Danni replied.

“It has been too long,” the other woman replied.

“Why are you here?” Danni asked forcefully.

“Ruby needs your help.  Your mothers need you.  Henry needs you.  We need you to come home.”

“I can’t be what you need, and you all know that.  I did what I had to do to make sure that you all survived and the price of that was living without you.  Nothing has changed, Belle.  I can’t.  I took the punishment willingly.  How did you even get here?” Danni asked, tears filling her eyes now.

Rachel and Quinn just stared at each other.  They didn’t understand what was happening in front of them.  They both knew that Danni didn’t talk about her family much.  They didn’t push because it seemed to be a sore subject for her.  It was something that Quinn understood and she kept Rachel from making it into a big deal.  But now, Belle, supposedly Danni’s sister, was sitting at the table with them.  Quinn looked over at the woman and couldn’t see a resemblance.  She wondered if that is why Danni told her that Belle was her “step-mother.”

“I’m sorry,” Danni told them she jumped up from the table, tears streaming down her face and running away from them, the table, and the club.

Rachel gave Quinn’s thigh a squeeze and met her gaze.  The unspoken agreement formed between them.  Rachel gathered her clutch, took a sip of her cocktail, and stood up to excuse herself.

“I’ll go get her,” Rachel said, quickly following her.

Rachel gave Quinn another look as she went through the door.  Quinn just looked across the small table at the other woman and wondered what had happened to her night.  They should be riding the high of another successful Broadway show and instead they were scattering into the wind.  She wasn’t drunk enough to deal with this tonight.

“I take it she isn’t very good with emotions,” Belle said quietly.

Quinn just picked up her rum and Coke.  She stared into the bright sapphire eyes and took a sip.  She didn’t know how to respond.  Danni was her friend and this woman had just completely upset in a matter of seconds.  She wanted to punch something, namely this Belle person, but she knew that both Danni and Rachel would be upset with her for doing that.  She sat her glass down and looked around the club.  Her eyes finally found those of her best friend and the productions’ lawyer on the dance floor.

She merely nodded and the fiery Latina started making her way across the dance floor.  There was an unwritten rule between them and Quinn was glad for it.  She was stuck in the club trying to figure out how to clean up a mess that she didn’t understand.  She was going to need Santana’s help in making sure that she didn’t do anything too illegal and get home to Danni before something else happened.

“What’s up Q?” Santana asked as she came up to the table.

“This is Danni’s sister, Belle,” Quinn told her.

The Latina sat down.  She cocked her head as she studied the woman before her.  There was something off about what Quinn told her and when she realized that both Rachel and Danni were gone, she knew that this woman had to be the reason for their vacancy.

“Where’s the Hobbit and Storyteller?” Santana asked them.

“Rachel went after Danni when she left.”

“What did you do to my main bitches, _Puta_?” Santana asked the blue-eyed woman.

“I need to take my sister home.  I didn’t mean to upset anyone, but this is a family matter.  I am sure that you understand,” Belle told them both, before she turned to face Quinn more directly.  “Will you please take me to her?  Time is of the essence and I need to get her home.”

“I am not sure that she wants to see you.  And, I am not just going to take you to our loft.  So, you need to give me a good enough reason to help you, or you can figure out how to make Danni talk to you on your own.  Cause right now, I am not going to help you,” Quinn told her.

“Like I said this is a family matter,” Belle started to say.

“Danni is our family,” Santana added quickly, giving Belle a look daring her to contradict.

“I would like to help you, Belle is it, but until you tell me how she ended up in New York, broken and defeated on a cold, rainy winter day, I have nothing to offer you,” Quinn added.

“She was hurt?” Belle inquired. 

The raw emotion in her voice and the sudden appearance of tears in her eyes made Quinn second guess being so hard on the petite woman.  She looked her over.  Her clothes were a little off, like they were a few years old fashion-wise, but nothing too bad.  The look of horror and pure pain in her blue eyes ripped at Quinn’s soul.  She knew that pain.  She could taste it.

“You don’t know what happened to her, do you?” Quinn asked.

“No, I really don’t.  There were some issues and some fighting.  _Danni_ fought back and took care of it.  Then, she was gone.  I don’t know what happened completely, but I’ve been looking for her for over three years.  Every chance I got, I looked for her.  She just disappeared.  She left us a note saying she was leaving and nothing more, no explanation.  I know that she was upset with her mothers, but she left without trying to figure anything out.  We all love her and we want her to come home.  I need to talk to her.  I know that she did something, something that should have never been asked of her.  I know that whatever she did ensured our prosperity, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t come back home,” Belle explained.

“What do you mean that she did something to ensure your prosperity?” Quinn asked.

“How much of her past has she told you about?”

“Nothing really.  She actually told me that you were her step-mother, but Rachel introduced you to us as her sister.  I don’t know what to think or believe.  So, convince me to take you to her and I might do that.  If not, you can fuck off and leave,” Quinn told her.

“I would rather not do this in public,” Belle stated.

“Too bad.  You came here, so now you talk.  Or, there’s the door,” Santana told her.

“We can go anywhere, but please don’t make me do this here in a crowded place.”

“It’s New York City, lady.  It’s crowded.  Get over it,” Santana quipped.

“Quinn, _s’il vous_ _plaît_.”

“ _Non, je ne me soucie pas que ous parlcz français_.  I am not going to betray Danni.  So either tell me something that I can believe and I’ll talk to Danni,” Quinn said as her hazel eyes hardened.

Belle realized that they were fiercely loyal to her and she smiled.  It made Quinn and Santana a little more edgy and she knew it but she couldn’t help it.  She knew that Coraline could command anyone if she wanted to, but she chose these women to be her inner circle.  Belle knew that there had to be a reason for it.  She just needed to keep talking to them so she could find a way to make them believe her, too.  Coraline had changed her name but she hadn’t forgotten who she was.  It was a start and that was all Belle would need in order to convince her ward to come back home.

“My name is Belle French Lucas.  I am married to _Danni’s_ Aunt Ruby.  Ruby is the sister to one of her mothers.  Unfortunately when she was little something very bad happened.  Ruby and I ended up raising her.  That is why she calls me her step-mother.  Some more things happened in our kingdom and she had to leave.  She did what she had to do to save us, but...it’s hard to explain fully.  But during that time, she told everyone that she was my sister so she could do what she had to do.”

 

Rachel sat on the couch in the loft and just stared at Danni.  She didn’t know what to say because she had never seen her friend in this state.  Danni wasn’t one to just shut down and that is exactly what she had done.  Rachel had to run after her to catch her.

“You wanna talk?” Rachel asked her.

“No.”

She wanted to help her friend, but she didn’t know how.  Danni seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as tears streamed down her face in slow succession.  Finally, she could take it anymore.  She got up and crossed the room.  She forced Danni into an embrace and just held her as the anguish passed through Danni’s body.  She was about to say something to her when she felt her phone vibrate.  She pulled it out and noticed that it was a text message from Quinn.

Quinn was worried about her, too.  She remembered how Danni was a few years ago when they found her at the club.  She looked lost and hollow.  They reached out to her and started their strange friendship.  No one in the business could understand how someone of Danni’s countenance became friends with the dynamic Broadway duo of Q and R.  Well, that is until they met Santana and Brittany, then it made sense.  But, Rachel could be friends with anyone and that was one of the reasons that she was the one at home with Danni while Quinn was still at the club trying to feel Belle out.

“Danni, what happened with your family?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You can tell me.  It won’t change anything, okay?  Quinn and I are here for you.  We aren’t going to leave you.  We are your friends,” Rachel told her.

“That is why I can’t tell you.  It is dangerous enough being associated with me.  If you knew the truth, it could be deadly...for everyone,” Danni offered with no more explanation.

“Danni...Quinn is still at the club with your sister.  She is going to find out what happened or something close to it.  I know that you might not want to tell us, but that may not stop your sister.  Quinn texted me to tell me that she and Santana are talking to Belle.  If you don’t want to see her, fine, but she wants to talk to you.  Quinn is fielding her off for the moment.  But if she found you at the club on our closing night, how long do you think it would take her to find the loft and you?” Rachel asked.

“She is damn resourceful,” Danni muttered.

“She must be if she found you in the City by herself.”

Danni looked over at the smaller brunette.  She saw the worry in her dark eyes and was upset that she was the reason that it was there.  She pulled away and shook her head.  She knew that Belle wasn’t going to give up.  She made the decision.  She would leave in the night.  It would be the safest thing for them all.  She wasn’t sure if she would leave a note or not.  She knew that she owed Quinn and Rachel an explanation, especially after everything that they’d been through, but she didn’t know if it would lead them to her in the end.  She had to be careful.  She had to lead Belle away from them and still get away.  They couldn’t know the truth of her fairy tale life.  For one, they wouldn’t believe her.  And, they wouldn’t understand any of it, either.

Rachel watched her lighter brown eyes.  She could see the thoughts flowing quickly and she knew what it meant.  Danni was going to run.  She’d promised that she wouldn’t after they found her that night.  She promised that she would always tell them truth, but whatever this was, this secret, it was breaking Danni right in front of her and there was nothing she could do about it.  She grabbed her phone and texted Quinn three words: **She’s gonna run**.

“I’m going to go lay down.  I’m tired.  I didn’t realize how much the play took out of me.”

“Danni…”

“Not tonight, Rach.  Please.  Just let me sleep and I’ll tell you everything in the morning.”

Rachel knew that it wasn’t true, but she just nodded anyway.  She didn’t care that Danni was lying to her about talking to her in the morning.  Her heart broke with each step that Danni took towards her room.  She wondered how long she had before Danni would make a break for it.  She looked around their loft penthouse and was glad that she would have to go through the main rooms to get out.  Rachel then hatched a plan.  They would take turns staying up, guarding the front door, so Danni couldn’t run in the middle of the night without them knowing.

Rachel grabbed her phone.  She typed out another quick text to Quinn and then waited.  She hated waiting.  She loathed it.  She held her phone as she turned the leather recliner to face Danni’s door.  She felt the buzz telling her that Quinn had answered her text.

_What do you mean she’s running?_

**She’s gonna run.  I could see it in her eyes.**

_I’m still with Belle.   She’s glossing over the family history._

**They share some secret and it is tearing Danni up.**

_Do you want me to come home?_

**Not yet.  Try and get what you can out of’ her sister.  Just be careful.**

_I am.  I got S with me.  She won’t let her sister do anything to me._

**I know, but this scares me.**

_Why?_

**There is just something in her eyes that I can’t describe.**

_You’re at loss for words?_

**Don’t...just find out something.**

_I’m trying.  Keep her there.  We’ll be home as soon as possible._

**We?**

_S and B.   You know that she isn’t going to let D run.   She’ll sit on her first._

**I know.  I love you.  Be careful.**

_Always my beautiful stella._

Rachel smiled at the phone.  She hoped that Quinn would be home soon and that they could figure out how to get Danni to open up again.  She thought about going into her room and getting in bed with her, holding her, and making her realize that there were people there that cared.  But the look that had been in Danni’s eyes worried her so much that she wasn’t sure it would work this time.

Danni opened the door to her room.  She saw the little starlet in the chair facing her and her face fell.  She knew then that it wasn’t going to be easy to get out.  She would have to find a different way to get passed them.  She wondered if she would have to break down and give them so truth.  When her eyes met Rachel’s, she realized that Quinn was still at the club with Belle.  She sighed.  It was going to be a long night.

 

Quinn sipped on her drink.  She kept studying the woman before her.  Santana had left the table only long enough to get another drink and find Brittany.  When she looked over Belle’s shoulder, she saw Santana and Brittany heading back towards the table.  Santana had a tray of shots in her hand and two beers.  Quinn could only shake her head.  She knew that Santana would try to get Belle drunk to get to the truth because it was what she did to Quinn when Quinn didn’t want to talk.

She was just putting her phone away when Santana set the tray down.  She watched her pass the shots around the table as she eyed Belle the entire time.  Brittany’s bubbly attitude was infectious and Quinn perked up a little, but she couldn’t dampen the worry that was growing because of Rachel’s texts.

“Alright, Short Stack, drink up and get to talkin’,” Santana told Belle.

Belle looked at the Latina.  There was no fire in her eyes.  She actually looked sad and worried.  It didn’t faze Santana.  She merely pushed the shot closer to her.

Belle picked the shot up slowly.  She looked around the table.  She met Quinn’s hazel eyes first.  Then she turned to face the fiery Latina.  Santana just smirked at her as she held the glass higher about to tip it into her mouth.  Then she looked into Brittany’s bright blue eyes and took the drink.  She slammed the glass on the table upside down, staring back into Santana’s eyes.

“It’s Bookworm,” she said cocking an eyebrow at her in defiance.

“Excuse me?” Santana asked, after downing her shot.

“My nickname is Bookworm.  I believe it was originally given to me to be derogatory, but I was the town librarian, historian, and I love to read.  I understand your need to be larger than life, Miss Lopez, but I assure you than I’m not here to hurt anyone.  I just need to talk to my little sister.”

Santana stared at her.  They hadn’t given her their names.  How did she know that she was Santana Lopez?  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Do not worry about what I know and what I don’t.  I know that Danni is in pain and hasn’t told you everything.  I get it.  Your defense of her is honorable but unnecessary.”

“Well, I think it is.  She obviously doesn’t want to talk to you.  She left.”

“I need her to come home,” Belle stressed the last word as she said it.

“She is home,” Quinn said quickly, letting the anger that had been building seep through her voice, so much that Santana gave her an appreciative and smug look.

“Yeah, she lives with Rachel und Quinn.  They love each other and share their loft.  Why would she want to leave that?  They take care of her.  We’re her family or that’s what she told me the other day.  We are her family, right, S?” Brittany asked looking to Santana for the answer.

“Yes.  Britt-Britt, we’re her family, now.  She didn’t lie to you.  She loves you, too, baby.  But, Bookworm over there is her sister,” Santana explained to the blonde bringing her up to speed.

“Oh, well, what did she do that her family abandoned her when she needed you?” Brittany asked.

Santana and Quinn both turned to read the expression on Belle’s face.  Sometimes having Brittany as friend helped them in sticky situations like this.  Her innocence always helped people open up when they normally wouldn’t.  Quinn cocked an eyebrow at her waiting for her response.  Santana just glared.  But, it wasn’t until Belle met Brittany’s clear blue eyes again that she opened her mouth.

“She killed a man.”


	2. Chapter 2

She’d gone back into her room in the mansion.  She still wasn’t sure how they had all ended up in Storybrooke, but that didn’t matter at the moment.  Red was the issue.  She needed to help her.  She hadn’t really thought about what she was doing when she fled New York City for Storybrooke.  She didn’t even know what was wrong with Red.  It had been a split second decision.  For some reason, she just assumed that everyone was back.

The town was still intact, much to her amazement, but no one was there.  Amazingly it wasn’t over run.  Belle told her it had been two years since she’d been gone.  She wasn’t sure.  Life in New York had been easy and fast.  Time didn’t matter to her.

She stood in the hallway and looked around.  She couldn’t believe that there were pictures of Remy with them all there.  She wanted to cry, but she knew that it was her own fault she wasn’t in any of those pictures too.  Any picture that she might have been in had been erased or Belle had taken them.  She would have to ask her about that later, but right now, she needed to figure out how to get home.

She made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack.  She opened it over the sink, grabbed a glass, and went outside.  She sat down on the edge of the lawn lounger.  She poured herself a healthy amount and sat the bottle on the table beside the chaise.

“You remind me of Regina when you do that,” Belle told her, walking up behind her with her own glass.

She sat down beside her, took the bottle and poured herself some wine.  After taking a sip, she turned to look at Coraline, wondering what she was thinking about.  She knew that the last few days had been rough for her and she understood her hesitance in helping.  She really did, but she still hoped that Coraline would just admit that she missed them and come home.

“How?”

“How what?”

“Do I remind you of her?”

“The heavy thinking while drinking a glass of wine and trying not to stress out.”

“So, Emma doesn’t do that?” Coraline asked her.

“No, she uses physicality.  Usually you can find her with Charming sparring or beating a bag.  Regina drinks wine or goes for a ride on her horse,” Belle told her.

“I guess I do all of that,” Coraline replied.

“You do,” Belle said.

Coraline was watching her now.  She wondered when Belle would ask her about what she had been doing for the last two years.  She wondered when Belle would tell her what was going on beyond the fact that Red was sick and needed Coraline to come back.  Belle was hiding something and she knew that it was big.  She could only wonder what was really going on.

“Just ask me,” Belle finally said breaking Coraline’s thoughts.

“Ask you what?” Coraline question in reply.

“You want to know what’s really going on back in the Enchanted Forest, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“But, you won’t ask me?”

“A lot has happened to me in the last two years, Belle.  I can say the same for you.  You’ve become harder and more direct.  I can see Mom’s tutelage in it.  What has happened?”

“Wilhelmina is lost without you.  She is broken.  She is like the rest of us.  She doesn’t know or understand completely why you left, just that you are gone and her heart hurts because of it.  Some of us have taken it harder than others, but none like Will has.  There is nothing that we can do to cheer her up.  She believes that you are gone forever and her heart is breaking in two.”

“But, that doesn’t tell me what happened,” Coraline stated.

“Doesn’t it.”

“No.”

Belle looks at her.  She can see the hardened woman before her.  She reminded her of the Coraline that she thought was her sister in the beginning and the hardened knight that Blue present to the Court.  Coraline had let her life dictate her emotional response or lack thereof in every situation.  She knew that the woman before her had a hard time loving anyone, which is why she still didn’t understand why she left.

“Then, let’s start somewhere else, then shall we?” Belle asked her.

“Fine.”

“Do you still love Will?”

“Yes.”

“Did you honestly think that releasing in her in the woods outside the camp where George was would break the bond between the two of you?”

“Yes.”

“Did I not teach you magic?” Belle asked.

“A little, but yes, you did.”

“Then, why would you think that you could break True Love’s bond that simply?”

“Because I knew what I had become.”

“And, what pray tell is that?”

“I am the fucking Dark One.  I have the power of absolute evil inside me and sometimes…sometimes there is no tempering it.  I couldn’t watch her break beside me just because she loves me.  I had to do something that would be for the greater good.  I had to let her go.  If I let her go and freed her from our bond, then she would be able to move on without me.  She could have a life of her own,” Coraline told her.

“There is only one problem with that,” Belle started.

“Yeah, what?”

“Regina released her from her contract before she came to see you that night.”

“What night?  The night I left?  Is that why she kissed me?” Coraline asked.

“Yes.”

“What do you want me to tell you?  Do you want to know that I saw the fear in Regina and Emma’s eyes that night?  That my own parents were frightened of me?  That you were?  You can’t even deny it.  You were scared of me and you had every reason to be.”

“I won’t deny it.  There is no point.  But, what I want to know is why you didn’t give us a chance to help you?  You just ran.  You ran from your family and the love of your life and for what?  To come here and work at a theatre?  Coraline you were born for more than this and you know that.  I just want to know why,” Belle said.

Coraline saw the fire in Belle’s eyes.  She knew that Belle wanted answers, but she wasn’t sure that she was ready to give them to her.  She didn’t know if she had them, anyway.  Life hadn’t been what she’d expected it to be.  Being the Dark One clouded her mind sometimes.

“Because I didn’t want to hurt you all,” Coraline said with a defeated voice.

 

Rachel stood in the kitchen.  She was amazed at the size of the house, but she didn’t say anything to anyone about it.  She couldn’t believe that they were in middle of nowhere in Maine. This was not how she planned on spending her time off.  A vacation would be nice, but this was just…she didn’t know what.  She loved Danni, but she knew that something was off as soon a she met Belle.  Danni wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone, but as soon as she saw Belle, she turned back into the woman that had rescued her from the alley way.

“What’s up?” Santana said joining her in the kitchen and making herself some coffee.

“I don’t know.”

“She still hasn’t told you where she disappeared to that six months years ago.”

“No, she hasn’t.  She left after she made sure that Quinn was going to stay with me.  Then she just comes back with a new name, a new life and lots of money.  What was I supposed to do?”

“Follow her?”

“Like I was going to do that when I still had to perform the next week.  You know how much I hate having an understudy take a show.  It was bad enough that she made me wait until most of the bruises turned light enough to cover completely.  Quinn wasn’t happy about it either, but I wasn’t going to betray her trust.  She saved me that, San,” Rachel stated.

“You still haven’t told me what you were doing there to begin with,” Santana said.

“It’s not important.  It doesn’t matter anymore.  Do you even know where we are?”

“Somewhere in Maine, but I don’t think that it is on a map,” Quinn stated joining them.

“It’s called Storybrooke,” Brittany added.

They all looked at the tall blonde in wonder.  No one knew how she knew where they were.  She just shrugged before saying, “Didn’t you see the welcome sign?”

They all just stared at her.  Brittany was the only one who payed attention to everything that went on around her.  She was just so good at reading people.  They had come with Belle to the little hamlet town because Brittany was worried about Danni.  Had Brittany not been worried, they would have just waited at home for Danni to come back.  Brittany told them that she might not this time and the next thing they were all in Quinn’s Jeep on the way to Maine.  It had been an easy decision.

“What do you think they are talking about?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know, but Danni seems troubled by it,” Rachel stated.

“I don’t know if Belle is really her sister.  They don’t look anything alike.  My third eye is telling me that something is amiss with them.  Can’t you see it?” Santana questioned.

“It doesn’t matter.  What matters is that Danni needs us.  What are we going to do about it?” Rachel asked them.

“Whatever she’ll let us do,” Quinn added.

“I don’t want her to disappear like she did a few years ago, Quinn.  We need to make sure that she knows we are willing to help.  You didn’t see the changes that happened after she left New York and came back.  I did.  I don’t think she’ll come back this time,” Rachel stated.

“Isn’t that her choice?” Quinn asked.

“It is, but this is bigger than that,” Rachel replied.

“Meaning?” Santana questioned.

“This is bigger than just Belle and Danni.  There is something going on beyond here and now.  I think that we should wait to see what Danni tells us.  She is our friend.  We owe her that.”

“We do, Rachel.  I’ll give you that, but she tried to disappear again on you.  You….you were the only one that had contact with her before, Rachel.  You know her better than the rest of us.  She seems to trust you more.  She always has,” Quinn stated.

“So you want me to go talk to her?”

“You would be the best one to do it,” Brittany added.

“I don’t know that she’ll tell me.”

“She will,” Quinn said.

Rachel looked at her friends.  She didn’t know if Danni would talk to her, but she knew that she had to try.  She nodded at them and left the room.  She knew that she would be interrupting them, but they had come with Belle all the way to Maine from New York on a whim.  They needed more before they left.

She knocked on the door frame as she walked out.  She wanted them to know that she was coming.  She didn’t want it to be that big of a surprise.  She knew that Belle might not tell her thing that Danni would.  She just hoped that Danni would tell her enough to make them understand what was happening.

Belle turned to look at the petite brunette.  She smiled.  She knew that Rachel was a friend of Coraline’s.  She could see it in the way she did things.  She knew that there was some sort of close relationship between them.  She couldn’t define it and she didn’t care.  She knew that it was probably the same between her and Regina.  It didn’t have to have a reasoning because it just worked.  And, because it worked, things got done.

Rachel continued her way over to them.  Danni looked up at her and gave her a tight smile.  Rachel knew that look and she hated it.  It was the same look that Quinn made when she didn’t want to talk about something.  But, Danni also knew that Rachel would push and she’d get her answers.  No one was good at telling Rachel no.

Danni waved her over and Rachel took the seat that Danni vacated.  She sat down on the edge of the patio and stared out into the grassy yard, wondering what questions Rachel would ask, knowing she wasn’t going to let it go.  They all wanted to know why she ran back to Maine, to some unknown town that didn’t show up on the GPS or the map, but yet, Belle had brought them there.  She knew that they were wondering how Danni belonged in a seemingly deserted town.

“Just ask, Rachel,” Danni told her.

“Ask what?” Rachel replied, trying to be aloof, but failing miserably as only she could.

“I know that you want to know, so just ask.  I’ll tell you anything.  You already know that.”

“Where are we?”

“Storybrooke, Maine…my hometown of sorts,” Danni replied.

“You’re from Maine?  Funny, you’ve never sounded like it.  And, Belle doesn’t either.  What are you hiding from here?  Why here?” Rachel asked.

“This isn’t where I grew up, no, but this is my home.  This is the home in which my Mother and Ma live together…lived together until a few years ago.  By all accounts, this town should be gone, but as you can see it isn’t.  I don’t have all the answers and I am sure that you want more, but I am not sure I can give them to you.  Well, not in any way that you would believe me.”

“Danni, we love you.  We followed you because of that.  Why wouldn’t you think that we would help you?  I still owe you from what happened in that alleyway, Danni.  I am still the only one that knows that you were once called Coraline.  I’ve never betrayed that.  Can you really sit there and tell me that you don’t care about us at all?” Rachel questioned emotions building in her eyes.

“I can’t and you know that.  We’ve all come a long way in the past few years, Rachel.  I won’t deny that.  I also won’t deny my history before I met you all.  But, there are some things that should be left unsaid.  I thank you for your support, but you should all go back to New York.  There is nothing for you to do here,” Danni told her.

“I didn’t ask you that.”

“I know that, but that is my answer.”

“Danni…”

“No, Rachel, I can’t explain it in a fashion that you will understand.”

“Try me.”

“Rachel…”

“Show her, Coraline,” Belle told her.

She turned.  Her dark eyes meeting those of her aunt/sister.  She couldn’t believe that Belle would suggest such a thing.  There was something in her blue eyes that Danni couldn’t describe, but she understood that Belle knew more about how to deal with this realm than she did.

“Are you sure?” Danni asked her.

“It is the only way that she’ll understand our truth.”

Belle leaned back in the chair.  She watched her as she waved her hands dismissively.  Rachel watched the interaction and saw how easily they acted with each other.  They obviously had a close relationship like the one that Rachel had with her fathers.  She couldn’t blame Belle in that instant for coming back for her.  Danni was special, even Rachel could see that, but seeing her with Belle could actually explain some of her emotional responses and interactions.

Danni turned and faced Rachel a little more fully.  She could see Santana, Brittany and Quinn watching them from the kitchen.  Each of them had a cup of coffee and a strange look on their face.  She smiled up at them before she turned her attention back to Rachel.

“Do you trust me?”

“What?” Rachel asked in response.

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Anything I show you, any of you, in this town cannot leave it,” Danni told her.

“The only people I would tell you already know,” Rachel stated.

“I mean it, Rachel.  You can’t tell Kurt or Blaine, either.  If the four of you know, then you know.  But, what I am about to show you could put your life in danger, can you live with that?  Because I not sure that I can.  I haven’t told you anything about my life, honestly, before we met in that alleyway years ago for a reason.  I was doing it to protect you.”

“Well obviously something from your past has come back to haunt you, Danni.  We are your friends.  We aren’t going to let you face this alone.  You know, now, that we will follow you, so you just might as well tell us,” Rachel told her.

Danni sighed.  She knew it was true.  Rachel wouldn’t let it go until she knew the truth.  It was one of the reasons that they got along so well.

“Fine,” Danni told her.

She turned off the edge of the porch and stood up.  She faced Rachel a little more closely.  She took a step forward and then another until she was right in front of Rachel.  She knelt down before her and stole another glance at Belle, who just shook her head in the affirmative. 

“I want you to remember that you asked for this,” Danni stated as she leaned back away from her just a little, but enough to keep Rachel between her and those in the kitchen.

Rachel nodded.  Danni sighed and then looked down.  She didn’t want to do this, but she knew that this was the only way that they might believe the tale that she would tell them later. 

“I am not from this realm,” Danni started.

“Realm?”

“Please don’t…”

“Sorry, continue,” Rachel replied.

Danni gave her a look and sighed.  She turned to Belle again, hoping that her aunt/sister would stop her from doing this.  Belle shook her head and motioned for her to continue.

“You know all those stories that you learned as a kid, the fairy tales and the fantasies,” Danni started again and paused to see Rachel’s reaction.  When she nodded, Danni continued.  “Well, I tell you that there is a lot of truth in them.  But, they are the stories of my family and where I am from.  I am not from Earth as you call it.  I am actually from the Enchanted Forest.”

“Danni…”

“Rachel, let me finish.”

Rachel sat back and looked into her dark eyes.  She could tell that Danni believed everything that she was telling her.  She wasn’t sure if Danni lost her mind or what, but she decided that she would hear her out.  She knew that there were things that Danni couldn’t explain and she hoped that maybe she could garner something from her tale.

“I was born here in Storybrooke…about…”

“It would have been last year,” Belle added.

“Yes, last year.  When I was born I was named Remy Aurora Swan.  Some things happened and we were all transported back to the Enchanted Forest through a magic portal…but that honestly doesn’t matter to this story…” Danni said as she watched Rachel shift in the chair uncomfortably as she continued to tell her about it.

“You know what, that doesn’t matter.  None of it matters now.  That is a story for another day.  I can’t just tell you.  I’ll have to show you,” Danni told her as she stood up.

She shook her head and looked into Rachel’s surprised eyes.  She knew that the singer was worried for her mental health and was really beginning to question Belle’s relationship to her.  She reached out for Rachel’s hand, but she didn’t take it.

“Do you still trust me?”

“Yes…”

“Then take my hand,” Danni told her.

Rachel actually took it this time when it was offered.  Danni still kept her between herself and the prying eyes in the kitchen.  She knew that they sent Rachel out to find out what was going on, but she also knew that they weren’t prepared for her truth.

“Please don’t run,” Danni said weakly.

It was enough to keep Rachel rooted to the spot.  Her eyes followed Danni’s dark ones.  She gasped as the slowly turned green and looked down at her hands.  Rachel followed her gaze.  Her eyes got even wider when she saw the flames that were encompassing Danni’s palms.  Rachel looked back up into Danni’s eyes.  When she saw nothing but mirth, Rachel tried to dampen down her anxiety by what she was seeing.

“How?” she asked simply.

“Magic,” Danni replied.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“But, it’s fire.”

“It is.”

“Will it burn me?” Rachel asked.

“Yes, if you touch it, it will burn you.”

Rachel reached out with one hand, finger extended.  She got close enough to feel the heat from the blaze without needing to touch it.  Her eyes got bigger as she realized that she couldn’t see anything in Danni’s hand.  The fire was hovering over her palm. 

“Danni…”

“I am trying to tell you, Rachel, but I knew that you wouldn’t understand.”

“The fire isn’t touching you.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“But how?” Rachel asked.

“Magic.”

Rachel sat back down.  As soon as she moved, Danni knew that the other three women in the house saw the fire.  She saw the worried looks from Santana and Brittany.  Quinn didn’t look worried.  She looked pissed. 

Danni saw the change in her stature even through the window.  Belle noticed the difference in Danni’s posture.  Rachel was still standing there gob smacked.  She didn’t know how to really react.  There was so much running through her head. 

“You need to tell them all,” Belle urged when she caught the looks from the window.

Danni met her gaze.  She knew that Belle was right, but she knew that she needed to convince Rachel completely first.  She put the fire out in her hand and reached out for Rachel.  When she didn’t pull away, Danni urged her to sit back down.  Rachel took the seat quickly.  She kept her eyes on Danni’s as she moved around the porch.

“I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

“How?”

“How what, Rachel?”

“How did you do that?  And, don’t tell me magic.  How did you do that?  Is that some sort of theater trick?  How’d you do it?”

“I told you, Rachel.  It’s magic.  It flows through me.  Unfortunately for this land, this realm, there is no magic.  I couldn’t show this before.  There is no magic in New York,” Danni explained as she took a step back from her.

“There is no such thing as magic.  They are all parlor tricks and showmanship.  So, how did you do that?” Rachel asked again.

Danni shook her head.  She knew that Rachel wouldn’t want believe her even if she was in her face about it.  She didn’t know what else to do.  Fire was the easiest thing to show them. 

“You don’t get it, do you, Rachel?  I have magic.  It flows through me.  I can do things that others only wish they could, but the problem with that power is where I can use it.  Your world, here, Earth, doesn’t have any inherent magic.  What magic is here has been brought from other worlds or realms and love, because love is the greatest magic of all.  Storybrooke doesn’t really exist in your world.  Magic exists here because of love and well, other magics.  I do things here that I can’t do out there.  This is why I didn’t want you following me.  This is why you shouldn’t have come here.  Because nothing that happens here will make sense to you,” Danni told her.

“Don’t get angry with me,” Rachel stated.

“I am angry with you, Rachel.  I’ve never been angry with you.  Frustrated, yes, but angry no.  Trust me on that.  You’ll know when I am angry,” Danni replied.

“Danni, you can’t convince me that you can do magic by putting fire in your hands.  There are so many different stage tricks to make that happen.  Come on.  You work in a theatre.  You know that.  So, if you want me to believe you, you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“I should have known that the diva would need more,” Danni muttered.

She backed up.  She looked around the yard.  She wasn’t sure what she could that would make Rachel believe her.  Then she spotted a weed, a dandelion in the grass.  She picked it.

She stood back in front of Rachel.  She held the dandelion in hands.  She held it out for Rachel to see.  Rachel brushed her hands over the stem.  She then looked up at Danni.

Danni took a step back and dropped her hands.  The dandelion was suspended in the air.  She watched as Rachel’s eyes went wide at the sight. 

“You wanted magic.  Here’s some magic.  Watch this,” Danni told her.

She ran her hands around the floating flower to prove that there was nothing holding it.  Then she wiggled her fingers to the right of it.  Rachel watched in awe as the flower bloomed in front of her.  The bright yellow expanded open for all to see its color.  Then just as quickly it faded back into itself.  But, knowing Rachel, Danni wasn’t done.  She stopped wiggling her right hand and started with her left.  The flower turned into the puff ball of seeds.  She was making nature speed up right in front of her.  Rachel gasped at the sight, but Danni still wasn’t done.

She grabbed the puffball, held it out for Rachel, and told her, “Blow.”

Rachel did as she was bid.  She watched as the seeds spread into the air.  Danni raised her hands and the seeds began an artfully choreographed dance before spinning around Rachel and coming back to Danni’s hand.  She closed her hand around the seeds.

Rachel gave her a look of confusion.  Danni held up her finger telling her to wait with her other hand.  Then, slowly, she opened the hand that held the seeds.  As fingers uncurled from around them, Rachel could see a flower literally growing out of Danni’s hand.  Danni reached over with her left hand and “picked” the flower before handing it to Rachel.

“Was that enough for you?”


	3. Chapter 3

It was early the next morning.  Quinn had tried to stay away from Danni after the demonstration the night before but she was finding it hard in the large house.  She could see her influence in everything.  She didn’t know why she felt, but she did.  Sure there were no pictures of her on the wall, but she could see the resemblance between her, Regina and Emma.  It was almost undeniable. 

Then Quinn began to think about everything that Danni had ever told them about her family.  Suddenly, she felt very much in tune with the slightly older woman.  This house could have been the house that she grew up in Lima.  On the outside there was so much love, but on the inside…she just didn’t know and she realized that was what bothered her the most.  She was comparing this house to her own childhood home. 

She decided that she needed to clear her head, so she would go on a run.  For her it made sense when nothing else about their situation did.  It was a fall back from high school and being a Cheerio, but she had to admit that Sue helped them all face things in their way past high school.  She never thought that she would think about Sue in a positive light considering all the horrors and strange tortures that she put them through, but she was actually thankful for it, now.

She went back into the room that she was sharing with Rachel.  She looked at the brunette and smiled.  How Rachel had convinced them all to pack she still didn’t know?  They had no idea what they were getting into.  They just all packed a bag full of miscellaneous things and clothes, jumped into two vehicles and made their way to some unknown little town in Maine.  She should be mad with both Rachel and Danni for doing this, but this was the closest thing to a vacation that they had had in years.  She shook her head and grabbed her bag.

She changed into some shorts and t-shirt, before grabbing her Harvard hoodie on the way out the door.  She looked left and the right to determine which way to go.  The town was quiet.  She knew from what Danni told her that there wasn’t anyone there.  They were all gone, but it didn’t make it any less creepy.

She shook the thoughts from her head.  She turned to the left.  She knew that it was back towards town.  She figured that it would be better for her run and she headed out.

She wasn’t going down the lane that long before she heard the familiar clop, clop of another runner.  She didn’t turn to see who it was.  She could tell by the gate.  It was Danni because of all the runs they had gone on together in New York.  She sighed but continued to run.  She just hoped that the other woman would just pass her and let her run in peace.  She knew that it might be a pipe dream, but she really didn’t want to talk to Danni right now.

“Turn left at the end of the street,” Danni told her catching up to her.

Quinn gave her a pointed HBIC look, but nodded anyway.  She shook her head as she did in fact turn left at the end of the street.  Danni never left her side, but thankfully she didn’t speak either.  They ran in that fashion for the most part.  Danni would give her directions and Quinn would take it, begrudgingly.  When they ended up at the wharf, Quinn couldn’t help but wonder if it hadn’t been by design.  She knew that Danni knew the town when she didn’t, but she was capable of pacing herself for a roughly two to five mile run.  She did it all the time.  All it did was make her wonder more about Danni’s influence in their lives.  Why did they follow her so blindly’?  Why did they believe her so easily?  Quinn didn’t have the answers, but she stopped where Danni did and waited with her as they both stretched, not wanting to cramp as they walked slowly down the dock towards the water and some wooden park benches overlooking the Atlantic.

“You’re angry with me,” Dunn stated more than asked.

Quinn didn’t answer as they neared the benches.  She just took a seat on one and watched as the sun begun to peak over the water.  The fog was just starting to lift off the water in the cove.  It was surreal.  It should be beautiful and on any other day it would be for Quinn, but knowing everything that she did now, it was almost horrific.  She felt like she was in some sort of crazy fantasy movie with no way out.

“I get it.”

Quinn turned to face her more fully, and said.  “Do you?  Do you really?  Because I don’t think you do.”

Danni laughed slightly.  She knew how Quinn felt about the truth, but she also knew that Quinn wouldn’t have believed her either.  It was a catch 22, but Danni took the road she figured would always cause the least amount of hurt.  She’d had years to gauge people and their reactions.  She knew that Quinn would be angry when she found out the truth, if she did, but she never thought about how much alike they were until she saw her sitting there on that bench at Storybrooke’s wharf.

“I know you’re upset and you have every right to be, Quinn.  I would never try to tell you otherwise.  Trust me when I tell you that I know what it’s like to be lied to constantly, especially when other people think it is for your own protection and they are the ones closest to you.  I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think that you would believe me.  It was my choice and one at I stick by.  But, I can tell you this much.  I will answer any question you have for me, honestly and completely.  Ask me anything.  I don’t care.  You’ve earned the right.”

Quinn took a deep breath and looked at her.  She could see the same soft dark eyes that she’d known for the last few years.  Her head was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Danni lit her hand on fire and it didn’t burn like the night before.  She took another deep breath trying to center herself.  She didn’t want to go off on her, but she wanted answers.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you bother coming to Cambridge and telling me what happened lo Rachel if you could have been there for her after it all?” Quinn asked.

The question shocked Danni.  It wasn’t the question that she was expecting.  She knew that Quinn was protective of all of their friends.  She’d proven it time and time again at the theater, on the streets and with the paparazzi.  But, she’d always been especially protective of Rachel and more so as time went on and their relationship blossomed.  Danni actually smiled at het’ before she answered.

“Because she needed you,” Danni answered.  “I told you what happened in that alley and I know that you never told Rachel that I came to you.  And, I know that because Santana didn’t even know.”

“I told you that I wouldn’t tell them when you made me promise.  I was already planning to get my MFA from Columbia.  I had already been accepted.  I hadn’t told Rachel about it yet, though”

“I know that.  I knew all of that.  You told me.  But, you have to understand what I was going through at the time I never told you my name that night.  I came to you at Harvard and told you to go to Rachel, that she would need you and that I had to leave, that I couldn’t do it, and she could never know that I came to you.  I wasn’t supposed to know about you.  Santana let it slip and then I pressured her more about you after everything.  When I was finally calm enough to leave her, I did.  I couldn’t stay, not in my state.  I know that you don’t understand that and I respect that.  There was so much going on in my head that I had to deal with.  When I left you, I came here.  I figured I could come home.  I was wrong, oh, so very wrong,” Danni told her.

“What happened here?”

“Magic.”

“You make sound like that is the answer for everything that has gone wrong in your life.”

“Because that is the truth,” Danni replied.

“That isn’t the answer, Danni.  You’re using it as an excuse.  What really happened?”

“You sure hut you want the long version of the story?” Danni inquired.

“I am Lit major, of course, I want the full story.  We’ve got time, right?  No one will be up for a while, so tell me what really happened to you.  Make me believe you and then maybe, I’ll talk to the rest.”

“And, do what?   Convince them to go back to New York.  I am sure that after what happened last night.  Rachel isn’t going to let that happen.  She is determined even more so now to go with me.  Trust me when I say she isn’t ready to deal with my reality.  She thinks that she is, but she isn’t.  None of you are.

It is something that takes time for you to understand and come to grips with.  I mean it isn’t every day that you are told that fairy tales are real and that your friend is from the ever after you never read about.  I mean the stories you learned are all true.  They are bastardizations in order to help teach, but they are all based on the truth in go back far enough,” Danni told her.

“You’re serious about that?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, I am.  Look I know that seems farfetched and insane, but it is the truth.  I don’t know how else to tell you about it,” Danni stated.

“You lit your hand on fire.  Anyone can do that, Danni.  It is a parlor trick,” Quinn stated.

Danni shook her head.  She should have known that Quinn would have looked for the reasonable and most logical explanation to what happened the night before.  She wouldn’t go to the magic aspect without so ne help and they were alone.  Danni knew that she should take the time now to make her understand, show her the truth, but she wasn’t sure that Quinn could handle it on her own.

“Fine, let’s try it again then, shall we?” Danni questioned.

Quinn pinned her gaze with the best HBIC look she could, but it didn’t faze Danni one bit.  She sighed as she lifted her hand out to Quinn, palm up, empty.  She brushed her sleeve back and turned her hand over a couple of times to prove the legitimacy of the condition of her hand to Quinn.  She nodded at Danni and waited.  Danni took another breath.

“As you can see, my hand is empty.  There is nothing in it.  There are no tubes running down my sweatshirt.  There is nothing coating my hands at all,” Danni told her.

“Not that I can see no there isn’t,” Quinn replied.

“Then explain this,” Danni slated as she snapped her fingers and fire erupted from her fingers before settling in her palms.

Quinn gasped.  Her hazel eyes looked up at Danni’s eyes and she saw them turning green.  She chocked on another breath before she reached out her hand to touch it.

“It will burn you,” Danni warned.

Quinn didn’t care.  She needed to process this information.  She needed to know that it was real.

Her fingers felt the twinge of heat before they made it all the way to Danni’s hand.  She looked up again and saw the green fading from Danni’s eyes.  She recoiled back, a little more quickly than she would have liked, and she knew that Danni thought that she was scared.

“Can you do more?”

“More?” Danni asked with a very inquisitive look on her face.

“Yes.”

“What would you like for me to do?”

“I don’t know,” Quinn answered truthfully

“How would you take us home?”

“Home?”

“Well, to the house on Mifflin Street.”

“Okay,” Quinn answered unsure if she really wanted her to do it.  “I am not going to hurt you.”

“I never said that you would,” Quinn said defensively.

“Do you trust me enough to do this?” Danni asked her.

“I’ll give it go,” Quinn stated with her normal false bravado.

Danni laughed at her.  She stood up.  Quinn followed suit and wondered what Danni was going to do.  Danni reached out and lifted her hands like for a hug.  Quinn cocked her eyebrow at her.

“I’m going to have to hold you somewhat for this to work well,” Danni told her.

“If you must,” Quinn huffed.

Danni laughed again.  She knew that Quinn was over-thinking things and slightly scared.  There was more to the story that she didn’t know.  Danni knew that she would have to tell them all about it when they got back to the house.  She would start over breakfast.  Looking out over the water, she knew that Belle would be up and cooking soon if she wasn’t already.

“Relax.  It will be easier on you if you do.  Now, look into my eyes and just relax,” Danni told her as she held the writer close in her arms, but not close enough to be considered a hug.

Quinn did as she was asked.  She let her body relax.  She stared into Danni’s eyes again and watched as they turned bright green this time.  She cast a glance just to side of Danni’s head and saw a plume of blue and purple smoke surround them.  She wasn’t sure if she should be scared, but when she saw Danni’s smile, she let the thoughts go.

When she smoke cleared, she was amazed to find that they were in the kitchen of the house.  Belle let out a small gasp, but she didn’t stop cooking.  Danni laughed as Quinn and Belle’s eyes met and held.

“Morning, Aunt Belle.”

“Morning, you two.  Hungry?  I’ll have some pancakes ready in a few,” Belle told them.

“I’m going to take a shower.  I’ll be back down in a few.  Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.  I am sure that Quinn has lots of questions for you, Belle.  There are no more secrets between us, any of us.”

Belle nodded at her.  Quinn stumbled over to the table and sat down.  Before she could say anything, Belle handed her a cup of coffee.

“Drink it.  You’re going to need it.  If she’s told you, then you are close enough to her that she trusts you with her life.  You should be proud of that fact.  There aren’t many that she lets that close,” Belle told her as she offered her cream and sugar.

“Are you really her aunt?”

“By marriage, yes.”

“She has magic?”

“Just like both of her mothers,” Belle answered.

“How old is she?”

“I really don’t know.  In your world, she should be only one.  In hers, I have no idea.  But for me, she is around twenty eight to thirty if l have to guess.  You’d have to ask her though.  I am not really sure.”

Quinn nodded into her cup as she took a sip.  She didn’t know what else to ask.  She could have all the answers she wanted and she didn’t know what to say.  Things weren’t going to be easy between all of them.  They both knew that, but Quinn knew that Belle was unerringly truthful.  Quinn wasn’t sure if she was ready for the truth, but there were things that she wanted to know, questions that she’d liked answered, and information that could explain so much.  All she had to do was ask.  She looked across the counter at Belle and picked up her coffee cup as she thought of the questions that she might want to ask now that she had been giving free rein. 

Quinn sipped her coffee and watched the auburn brunette.  There was a grace in her movements that reminded her of Danni.  Quinn could see where she got it from.  She still didn’t understand how Belle was her aunt, but it didn’t matter. 

“She’s different with you four.” Belle said plating some pancakes.

Quinn looked at her quizzically.  She sat the coffee cup down on the counter, but held it in her hands.  She didn’t know what Belle meant about Danni being different.  Until yesterday, she didn’t have a point of reference to say anything to the contrary.  Now she wasn’t sure she knew who Danni really was.

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Belle urged her.

“It is a little hard not to,” Quin replied.

Belle nodded.  She didn’t understand completely because she’d grown up in the fairy tale.  She didn’t have to learn that the stories were true.  She was sure that Coraline (Danni) hadn’t give Quinn the full spectrum yet, but she knew that it would be coming.  The four women would demand more answers and she knew that Danni didn’t think that they were ready for them.

“Go easy on her.”

“Easy on her?  How am I supposed to go easy on her?  The first book that we wrote together for Broadway wasn’t a story, was it?  It was really her life?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know what book you’re talking about,” Belle answered as she plated more pancakes.

“A book?  It is what we call a play or the written parts of the play in theatre.  Danni and I write books.  Rachel preforms them.  Brittany designs the dances and movements.  Santana handles all the legal work and bookings.  Then, Danni and I direct the play.  We all produce it.  We’ve become a little production company.  Well, we’re little but we’ve done a lot in the theatres,” Quinn stated.

“If Danni is involved, then I’m sure that you have made a name for yourselves.  She isn’t known to back down from anything...most of the time.  I think she gets that from both of her mothers.”

“She loves them, doesn’t she?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, very much.  Why do you ask?  Has she not talked about them?” Belle replied in question.

“No, she has been really quiet about her family life.  Now, I guess I understand why.  I mean, how do you tell your roommates that you are from a fairy tale?” Quinn asked and then paused before continuing.  “She just seems so different here.  Like there are memories that she can’t escape in this town.   Like there is a part of her here that she’d like to forget.”

“There are,” Belle replied, quietly, still making more pancakes.

“Like what?  What happened here that so bad?  Can you tell me that?”

“I died,” Danni told her as she centered the kitchen, hair dripping wet from her shower.

“Danni?!?” Belle stated seeing her standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

“She wants to know what happen, Aunt Belle, and you told me that I should tell them.  So, why should I spare her any detail?  They want to know that truth about what happened to me.  I’ll tell them.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Quinn told her.

There was an uneasy alliance between them.  Quinn could see a lot of herself and the inner introvert inside Danni.  She knew what it was like to have a troubled childhood.  She didn’t need to hear about it.  She lived it.   It was another reason that she understood Danni and trusted her so easily.   They had a comradery that many couldn’t fathom and all because of their harsh upbringing, always having to be something that you weren’t and striving to prove yourself is exhausting.  

“If you want to know all the horrors of my life, Quinn, I’ll tell them to you.  But, I don’t think that it should be over breakfast.  It would take a few bottles of wine and lots of vodka or in Santana’s case tequila.  We can save that for another day.”

“You still think that I am going to be able to convince them to go back?” Quinn asked.

“I am asking you to try.”

“Well, we both know that it isn’t going to work.  You know how head strong Rachel is and forget trying to convince Santana.  She’ll demand to go just because you don’t want her to.  And, Brittany…she loves magic.  She’ll want to go just see if she can see a unicorn.”

“Regina has a herd of them,” Belle added, plating more pancakes.

Danni gave her a pointed look, but didn’t say anything.  She just watched as Belle grabbed another skillet and started preparing some scrambled eggs.  She shook her head at her aunt.  Belle had never been one to hide anything.  Even growing up under her care, Belle gave her enough of the truth without coming right out and telling her that she was the crown princess that the Blackness was looking for.  She’d figured that out on her own behind closed doors.

“Not helping…”

“What?” Belle asked, dropping more egg mixture into the skillet.

“See.  Even she is wondering why you are putting up such a fuss about all of it.  You might as well get used to the idea that we are going with you,” Quinn told her and took another sip of coffee.

Danni groaned.  She threw her hands up in the air.  She knew that it was a long shot, but she was hoping that Quinn would take her side and help.  She was wrong. 

“Do you remember the song that Rachel sang to you before we got our first backer?”

“No?”

“I’ll stand by you,” Quinn answered.

As if on cue, Rachel, Santana and Brittany came into the kitchen humming and singing the Pretenders’ hit.  Quinn just smiled at her lover.  She wondered if Rachel had been just been outside the kitchen listening right before she entered.  Quinn joined them in the song.

Belle dropped her spatula and smiled.  She could see the depth of love that these women gave her ward and she was appreciative of it.  She knew that Danni needed a good support structure.  She had spent so long trying to prove herself and trying to get the recognition that she so desperately wanted.  She saw the same drive in Regina and Emma, but it was so much strong in Danni.  She wondered if she would ever be able to completely repair the rift between her and her mothers.  Forgiveness was one thing; letting it go was something entirely different.

“So you got some voodoo, no biggie,” Santana told her when they finished singing, shrugging her shoulders at Danni as she walked around to the counter and collected a plate from Belle.

“Can you really show me a unicorn?” Brittany asked gleefully, slightly bouncing up and down in front of Danni, holding her hands.

“If she won’t, Brittany, I’m sure one of her mothers, her grandmother, or I will,” Belle told her holding out a plate for her as well.

Danni turned and scowled at Belle.  Her own aunt was against her.  She sighed.

“Get over it.  You want a diva tantrum, I’ll give you one.  We’ve all thought about it.  We want to do this.  So you might as well realize that you aren’t getting rid of us.  You’ve done so much for us…especially me.  Let us repay you,” Rachel told her as she walked over to Belle to gather Quinn’s and her plate.

Danni just stood there in awe as they each took their plates and sat down.  She was outnumbered five to one and those were never good odds.  She knew that she could just poof them all back to the loft in New York, but when and/or if she came back, they would never forgive her.  She wondered if it was a risk that she’d be willing to take.  It was, but she didn’t know if she had enough magic to actually do it.  She sighed.  It was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

Quinn stood at the back door and watch Danni moving.  It was midday and she was landscaping.  Quinn wouldn’t have normally found it odd except for the fact that she wearing black and deep royal blue clothes.  When she would take a small break in place, she notated the coat of arms on the back of the vest she was wearing.  She just shook her head.  She knew that Danni had an odd sense on fashion.

“You should go talk to her,” Belle said, stepping up beside her.

Quinn turned to look at her.  She wondered what Belle was pushing.  She seemed to be trying to get Quinn to get closer to Danni ever since they got to Maine.  Rachel had always been closer in New York and Quinn wondered if it was because of how the met.

“I know she saved her,” Belle told her, taking a sip from the cup of coffee she was holding.

“How?”

“Danni tells me everything,” Belle replied.

“Why?”

“I am the closest thing to family that she has ever had a relationship with.  Her mothers love her dearly and she them, but they’ve never been close due to the circumstances of her upbringing.  It seems that I am the one that raised her when they died.  She was only five.  She blames them for her being an orphan and growing up without them.  I can’t say I blame her with that, but she has been holding that grudge for years,” Belle stated.

“I can understand that,” Quinn replied.

“I figured.”

“What does that mean?”

“You remind me of her and her mother, Emma,” Belle replied.

“And what does that mean to me?” Quinn asked.

“You all have something to prove.  Each of you have your own issues with your parents and it has colored your world and how you react in it.  It is a big chip.  I know what that is like.  My father wasn’t the greatest man.  Trust me; I know what it is like to be seeking approval.  Danni has been fighting for so long that she doesn’t know how to stop.  Even when she had everything that she ever wanted, she couldn’t stop.  She was born into a world where war was a way of life and she excelled at it.  I don’t even want to know what she has done to make herself this calm.”

“What is that supposed mean?” Quinn questioned.

“Last time I saw her was just before she met Rachel in that alley way.  She had just killed a man because he threatened the family and the kingdom.  She was so disgusted with how she was received because of the ruthless nature of the killing that she ran back to this world.  Like I said earlier, she has only been missing for two to three years for us, but I have no idea how long she has been on her own.”

“She killed him?”

“Yes,” Belle answered.

“No thoughts on that?”

“Oh, I have plenty, but none that I am willing to share with you.  For better or worse, she is my daughter and my sister.  I will do anything I can to protect her, even lie and fight.”

“I understand all that, Belle.  I get it.  I’d do the same for any of them.  They have been my rocks when I needed them.  I would never turn my back on them.  I would do anything for them and feel like they would do the same for me,” Quinn replied.

“I know and that is why she needs you now.  You understand the darkness that is inside her.  You may not think you do, but you do.  I’ve seen it in your eyes,” Belle told her.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing bad, trust me.  But, like me, you know how to deal with the darkness in someone that you love.  She doesn’t feel worthy of anyone caring for her anymore.  That is why she left Rachel after she saved her.  She came to you because she knew that you could take care of Rachel.  She cared enough to not leave Rachel alone, but she was afraid of herself.”

“Why?”

“Because of her magic,” Belle stated.

“What does that mean?”

“She really didn’t tell you all anything, did she?”

“Not really, no.  She just told us that she was from out of town and didn’t have any family.  There was talk of some disaster or some tragedy, but there were no specifics.  Hell, we didn’t even know that she had two moms and Rachel has two dads,” Quinn said shaking her head.  “She’s been very private about everything that didn’t have to deal with our lives in New York and the theater.  She was really easy to deal with, laid back and calm...I’ve never seen her like this.”

“Well, I hope that you never see her mad, then,” Belle said.

“Why not?”

“Well out there it would be nothing.  Here, with her magic...let’s just say that it won’t be pretty.  Her out there gardening is helping to keep her calm and her magic in check.”

“You make it sound like she is the Incredible Hulk or something,” Quinn quipped.

“I don’t know what that is, but if it is a big hulking mass of anger, then yes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, see what you don’t understand about magic could hurt you.  She is constantly fighting an internal war within herself.  She has her mother Regina’s natural anger and the chip on her shoulder from her other mother Emma.  But it is even more than that; she is made completely out of love.”

“Excuse me?” Quinn asked.

“She is made of love.  She is the product of True Love and her base magic stems from that.  She has a natural affinity to love and be compassionate.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that in her nature.  But, she has become something that she spent her life fighting.”

“What does that mean?  What aren’t you telling me?  Why are you skirting around the question?”

“She sacrificed her soul in order to save us all.”

“Huh?” Quinn asked.  “What does that mean?  She doesn’t have a soul?  What are you talking about?  Are you going to tell me?”

“First let me explain something to you about magic.  There are two types, light and dark.  They are neither inherently good nor evil.  They have the capacity for both.  It is all in how the user wields them.  The thing with Remy or Coraline or Danni, whatever name she is using at the moment, is that she is made from magic and the purest light magic there is our world,” Belle started to explain.

“The purest light magic?” Quinn questioned.

“Love,” Belle answered simply.

“Love?  She is made of magic?  I don’t get it,” Quinn replied.

“Love is the purest form of light magic in our world and she is literally made of it.  It was how she was conceived.  She does have two mothers and no father.  She is the perfect combination of Emma and Regina.  Emma herself is a True Love child, conceived normally, but made of magic.  It is generally the first-borns that are born to a True Love match that have magic,” Belle stated.

“But, she has a brother.”

“Henry, yes, he is Emma’s biologically, but not Regina’s.”

Quinn just looked at her.  They both took sips of their coffee and continued to watch Danni work outside.  Quinn just nodded and Belle sighed.  They both knew that she wasn’t going to come inside any time soon.  Belle knew she had time to continue.

“Anyway, unlike her mother Emma, she was made from love by love and technically is love.  She is…well, magic.  She was an unexpected gift for them and one that they cherished greatly despite the fate that befell them all.  But.  Danni...she was always compassionate and loving.  She loves fiercely and without reservation.  But, sometimes, she can’t rein herself in and that passion turns to into anger.  The light isn’t diminished, it’s changed.  The only drawback to that is she shares the same blood as Regina,” Belle explained. 

“But, how?” Quinn inquired.

“Regina...she could sadistic.  She had no qualms with hurting someone to get what she wanted.  She even had a collection of hearts at one point, but that is another story.  The same anger that Regina learned from her mother’s severity and rearing, Danni learned from the torture she received from the Black Queen and by taking on the darkest magic in our land.”

“The Blackness?” Quinn asked, turning to face Belle completely.

“The Blackness is part of it.  I am not sure that it has a name, but it is purely dark magic.  It is selfish and dark to the core.  It craves power and it craved Danni or Emma.  Emma died to protect us from it, but Regina resurrected her.  Danni...Danni...well, Danni gave into the temptation and allowed it into her.”

“Why?”

“She saw it as protecting us,” Belle stated.

“But why?”

“You’d have to ask her.  I never got a real answer about it.  But, now not only does she have the purest light magic inside her, but the purest dark magic as well.  It is another reason that she is so hot and then cold.  Sometimes she really isn’t in control of her emotions, the magic is.  So, yes, I will say that I have been afraid of her and with good reason.  She killed a man in cold blood, but it was also justified.”

“How could it have been justified?” Quinn asked walking back into the kitchen and setting her coffee cup on the counter.

“Have you ever wondered what happened to the man she beat in the alley because of Rachel?”

“Yes,” Quinn stated watching Belle come back into the kitchen.

“Did you want to hurt him?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t seek him out?  You didn’t hurt him?  And, why?  Because you knew that Danni had already dealt with it?” Belle asked her.

Quinn didn’t answer.  She didn’t know what she would have done had she seen the man that tried to rape Rachel.  They hadn’t talked about it in depth the same way that she had spoken with Danni about it.  But, that was years ago, surely the hatred wasn’t that fresh anymore…

“There was no need for me to do anything to him.  Danni and the law had already taken care of him.  I was just grateful that Rachel was okay and that Danni had been there for her,” Quinn said.

“I guess it is a good thing that you didn’t grow up in the Enchanted Forest then,” Belle replied.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Your anger and frustration seeps from you like water from a sponge.  I can smell it rolling off of you and that is only because I had to learn to identify certain magics by their smell over the years.  That isn’t an easy task, but anger and hate are some of the easiest smells to detect.  You smell like Ruby does when she is angry with hints of Regina and Danni.  You are really close to her, so that is to be expected.”

“Everyone has gone batshit crazy here….” Quinn started to say as she began to walk away.

“Think what you want, Quinn, but I know that if you could have you would have taken a punch or two at the man as well,” Belle stated and watched as Quinn spun back around.

She stalked up to Belle.  Bright blue eyes warred with the hazel until she saw Quinn’s ire start to flare.  Belle just smiled.  She was trying to piss her off and Quinn for the life of her couldn’t figure out why.  She wanted to slap the smirk of the older woman’s face.

“You have no idea about my life!”

“Yes, I do,” Belle replied quietly.  “Your father wasn’t the greatest but yet you wanted to please him.  Your mother bowed to your father and fell in line, even if it meant that you got hurt.  And, she finally decided to stand up for you, you no longer needed them.  You are strong and you are weak.  But, you are so used to hiding behind a mask of strength that you forget that it is okay to be weak sometimes and let someone else carry the torch for you.  Your father wasn’t bad man until he took to the bottle and when he did you learned to stay away, usually hiding at a friend’s house and hoping that he didn’t notice.  If he did, the punishment would be severe.  I am sure that if I looked at you back I could find scars of his belt or its buckle embedded there.  You never told anyone about the scars or your father, and if you did, you fell out of tree.  You’ve learned that family doesn’t necessarily mean blood.  Santana and Brittany are your sisters.  Rachel is your lover, wife, best friend…whatever name you want to call it.  They are your family and you would do anything for them.  Danni got added to that list because she saved Rachel.  She proved herself worthy of your loyalty in one act, but it was in getting to know her in a dingy apartment in Cambridge while you were at Yale, I believe, just before you announced that you were moving to New York and joining your family there that you met the one person who could understand the horrors and the grief that you hide inside and she gave you something that no one else ever could on a level that no one else could ever touch.”

Quinn’s eyes were swimming.  How could she know so much?  She’d only been back with Danni for a few days.  The things that she was touching on were things that should have taken months, possibly years for her to have learned.

“Don’t stress about it too much, Quinn.  Danni had ways of letting me know that she was okay.  She kept in touch in the only way that she could…magic.  Have you forgotten that she took random weekends to the sea?”

“No.”

“She didn’t go to the Cape or some touristy place.  She came home.  Here.  She’d meet me in secret at the edge of town and I would help her through.  I did what I had to in hiding her true identity, which wasn’t easy when you’re dating a werewolf.”

“But, we’re talking about Danni,” Quinn stated trying to regain her composure.

“We are.  She gets you on a fundamental level that they don’t.  Don’t get me wrong, they understand you, but they don’t know what drives you.  I do.  She does.  That is why you need to be the one to talk to her.  She’ll listen to you because she respects you,” Belle told her.

“But, why?”

“She’s over four hundred, Quinn.  Why don’t you ask her?”  Belle asked her before stating, “But, the war that she is fighting is the proverbial light against dark.  She gardens to clear her head.”

“I thought that was why she did all the exercise, yoga, and mediation.”

“I am sure it is, but we didn’t have all that in the Enchanted Forest.  We had war, magic and gardening.  When it came to Danni, she was great at all three.  And, in her mind, she’s preparing for a battle that she isn’t sure that she can win.”

“With what?”

“Herself,” Belle told her.

She reached out, touched Quinn’s shoulder and walked away.  She knew that Quinn had to think about what she had been telling her.  It would take a while before it all seeped in and hit Quinn fully.  And, heaven help anyone who was around when it finally did.  She knew that Quinn was a volatile mix of emotion.  She could see that she’d never learned to express in the healthiest of ways.  She watched the blonde as she stood before that patio door. 

She walked into Regina’s home office.  She needed to find some books there that Regina had kept hidden, but she wasn’t sure that they were even in the house.  She would go search Rumple’s house and the pawn shop later, then possibly the library.  She sighed as she sat in the monochrome room.

She didn’t hear Santana come into the room and sit down on one of the couches.  The Latina watched her as she searched the desk.  There was something that Belle wasn’t telling them and she wanted to know what it was.  She knew that Danni wouldn’t tell them, but there was something about this whole adventure that raised Santana’s heckles in a way she didn’t like.

“You can ask your questions whenever you’d like,” Belle told her as she continued to search a bookcase without turning around.

“Quinn’s special,” Santana stated.

“She is.”

“She’s lived through a lot of shit.”

“I know.”

“But, there’s more, isn’t there?” Santana asked.

Belle stopped looking and turned around.  She met the fiery Latina’s gaze and simply nodded.  They were all special in her eyes because they had done something that no one besides Will had done; they got close to Coraline (Danni) and made her care about something beyond her own selfishness.  Belle could tell there was more, but she wasn’t sure if the quartet was ready for it.

“So, the Enchanted Forest, huh?”

“Yes.”

“And, you’re like Belle French?”

“That is my name, yes.  But, unlike your story, I wasn’t a peasant.  I was…I am a princess in my own right.  My kingdom was almost destroyed during the Ogre Wars and Regina conquered it in her quest for Snow’s heart.  But, before you ask, I don’t consider it home.  I am not sure that I ever really did after my mother died.”

“Lots of dead parents there, huh?”

“Life wasn’t exactly all unicorns and rainbows.  It was hard and very…difficult depending on who you decided to support or not.  Alliances could make or break a kingdom, sometimes in an afternoon.  I want you to forget what you think you know about the fairy tales you were told growing up.  Names and places were sometimes the only thing they got right, if that.”

“Like…”

“Regina is the Evil Queen from Snow White’s tale.  She has a name in the books, but it isn’t Regina.  Also, she was never so vain to think that she should destroy Snow because she was pretty.  Regina is beautiful in her own right.  Her beauty could lead men into battle and did.  Beauty had nothing to do with it.”

“I am sure that you could correct the stories and get a strong following in the young adult category.  Ever thought about writing?  I mean, you know them all and stuff.”

“I’ve already written most of them down.  They are in the town library and I am the town librarian.  I am also Regina’s historian and linguist.  I can get some of them for you if you’d like.  I am sure that you would like to know what you have volunteered yourself for,” Belle stated.

“Nah, I’ll leave that to Q and the hobbit.  They do all the reading and shit.  I like to hit things. And, take care of Brittany.  But, that isn’t going to help us there, is it?”

“I don’t know, Santana.  I am not even sure what we are up against.  Ruby has never been sick before.  It was actually Will’s suggestion that someone should get Coraline while Regina and Emma and the fairies did what they could for her.  Will has been running her horse to death getting them whatever they needed.”

“Will is important isn’t she?  More than you are letting on?  There is something about Will that you haven’t told us.  What is it?”

“She was the last one to see Coraline before she jumped through the portal and landed in New York,” Belle replied as she grabbed a book of medicinal magic from Regina’s shelf.

“No, that isn’t it.  There is something else.  Something deeper and more meaningful to Danni.  She’s afraid of her, but I can’t figure out why.  Danni has never shown fear in front of any of us, but anytime your drop the name Will, she loses it.  Why?”

“That isn’t for me to say,” Belle answered.

“I will find out.”

“I am sure that you will.”

“What did this guy do to her?” Santana asked.

“ _She_ didn’t do anything but love her, like the rest of us,” Belle answered before she realized it.

Santana gasped.  It wasn’t the answer she was expecting.  She didn’t know what to say.  She just stared at the smaller woman.  Belle met her gaze, but neither of them tried to break the silence.  Finally Santana couldn’t take it.  She didn’t like the quiet.

“If Will loved her so much, why did she let her leave?”

“Why do any of us let Danni do anything?” Belle countered.

Santana just nodded.  She understood what Belle was trying to tell her.  Danni did what she wanted and what she thought was right.  It didn’t matter who she hurt in the process, especially if it was herself.  Quinn was the same way.  Santana just sighed.

“What can we do to help?” Santana asked changing the line of discussion.

“I don’t know.  You all don’t have magic.  You don’t understand the ways of our world.  If you do go back, you’ll be in danger, and Danni will spend her time trying to protect you while she tries to save her Aunt Ruby in the process.  Her mind will be divided and it is always divided because of the magic.  I need to keep her focused and I am not sure that I can.”

“We can help with that.  We’ve become very adept at doing that.  How do you think that we got so many musicals and plays started on Broadway?  It wasn’t just sheer will,” Santana told her.

Belle laughed.  She understood Santana’s humor and her need to understand everything about what was going on around her.  She needed to be the center of attention, even if it was bad attention.  She also knew that she did it to protect the other four. 

“There is a lot that you would need to learn if you all still determined to go with us.”

“You know that we aren’t going to let her do without a fight, so why wouldn’t we try and help.  What do you need to teach us?  And, how long do we have before Danni decides to jump down the rabbit hole again?” Santana asked.

It was that moment when Danni walked into the office.  She looked between Santana and Belle.  She could only wonder what Belle had told them.

“First we should start with hearts.”

“Are you sure you want to start there?” Belle asked.

“Why not?  Hearts are the reason for so much of the destruction and issues in our world.  Mom used to collect them, remember?” Danni replied.

“Hearts?” Santana asked.

“Yes, hearts, the organs that beat and pump your blood.”

“Hearts?” Santana asked again.

“Yes, San, hearts.  They are the most important organ in many worlds.  Just in ours…well, they have other worldly properties that you might not understand,” Danni explained.

“Hearts…”

“Yup,” Danni stated.

“Well, I’ll go get everyone,” Santana told her.

“We’ll meet you in the living room.”

“Right…” Santana replied as she walked out of the office muttering something in Spanish under her breath. 

Belle waited until Santana was out of ear shot before she questioned Danni on telling them about hearts.  She knew that Danni meant well, but was starting with hearts going to be the best thing for four women who didn’t know until a day ago that fairy tales were real, told completely wrong, but real nonetheless. 

“Are you sure you want to start with that?” Belle asked her.

“They won’t understand the true importance of magic and what it can do until they understand hearts, Belle.  They think they understand but they don’t.  So far everything that I have showed them could be explained as a parlor trick.  Showing them about hearts won’t be a trick.”

“You’re going to show them your heart?” Belle inquired concerning coloring her voice.

“I don’t see any other way.  You’ve tried to explain my duality to them, but they can’t completely fathom the war in my head.  If I show them the heart, then maybe they’ll begin to grasp the situation at hand.  I can’t guarantee anything though.  It’s been too long since I’ve had my heart in my chest because I was afraid,” Danni told her.

“And you aren’t afraid anymore, Coraline…Danni?”

“I’m fucking terrified, Belle.  And, we all know what happens when I am scared.  We don’t have time for that.  We have to get some things and then get to Ruby so I can see what I can do.”

“No more running?” Belle questioned.

“No, no more running.  I am tired.  I am old.  I need to do this,” she told Belle as she walked over to her mother’s horse statue.

She moved the statue and touched the wall.  A panel opened and she took a small box from the hidden wall niche.  She opened it and the loud thump, thump of a heart could be heard.

“Ready?” Belle asked her.

“As I’ll ever be,” Danni replied tucking the box under her arm and heading to the living room.


	5. Chapter 5

When they entered the living room, Danni could see Quinn stoking the fire.  It was warm enough out that they didn’t need it, but she appreciated the ambiance that it gave.  She watched as Brittany and Santana sat on the couch.  Rachel was in one of the leather chairs near the fire.  Quinn stood beside Rachel, unsure of where to go, but also unwilling to sit.  Belle walked in and took the other chair.   Danni cleared off the coffee table between them.

“I know that everyone has decided to go with me.  It doesn’t matter what I say or do, you’ve already decided.  I know that it out of friendship and I appreciate that.  But, as Belle has tried to tell you and I have.  Things are not the same in the Enchanted Forest.  Magic is very real.”

“But, there are unicorns, right?” Brittany asked.

“Yes.  Brittany, there are unicorns and I might be able to take you to them.”

The blond squealed in delight.  Santana rubbed her leg and Brittany realized that wasn’t what they were going to talk about.  She smiled at Danni and shrugged her apology.  Danni just smiled back.

She walked over to the fireplace.  She placed the box the mantle.  The faint thump, thump of her heart could be heard just barely above their breathing.  She turned around and faced them.

“I don’t know where to start, but I have to tell you as much as I can so you won’t be completely surprised once you’re there.  You will already be out of your element, even more so than now.  Things aren’t very gray there.  Everything is black or white for the most part, especially in the way that people think.  And for people of this realm, that can be a very bitter pill to swallow.  I am not trying to frighten you, but you should be scared,” Danni told them as she took a step towards the coffee table.

She sat down on it so she faced Rachel.  She looked into the little diva’s eyes and could tell that she was uneasy about this entire deal.  She also knew that Rachel felt like she owed Danni and that she would do anything that she could in order to repay that debt.

“Rachel...”

“Yes,” she replied.

Danni watched as Quinn closed the distance between them.  She knew that she was hovering protectively around Rachel and Danni couldn’t blame her.  She didn’t know how they were going to react to what she was about to do, but she had to make them understand.

“You asked me how I ended up in that alley and I never completely told you the truth.”

“I know.”

“But, you don’t know why and that is important.”

Danni sighed.  She reached out her hand, palm up, open and empty.  She mumbled some words and a dagger appeared in her hand.  They all gasped but Belle.  Quinn immediately moved around the chair, but a look from Danni and Rachel’s hand stopped her from putting herself between them completely.

“This dagger caused a lot of grief for my family over the years.  It used to belong to a man that was almost my Grandfather.  He used it for evil deeds and to gain power, but the flaw in the design was that whoever possessed the dagger could control him and his magic.  He sought for way to break free from that tenant.  He found it and fortunately never got to enjoy it.”

“Why not?” Santana asked from behind her.

“Because he died.”

“Is he the man you killed?” Quinn asked.

“I was responsible for his death, but I am not the one that killed him.”

Belle shifted uncomfortably behind her and Danni felt it.  Her heart broke for her aunt, but she couldn’t stop.  They needed to know as much as they could.  Her eyes didn’t leave Rachel’s.  She knew that Brittany wanted to go.  Santana and Quinn were loyal to a fault and they would follow her regardless, listening to her instruction because they knew that she knew what she was doing.  Rachel was the wild card.  The little diva could be unpredictable sometimes.

“What does that have to do with the dagger?”

“This was the dagger that should have transported the power to new Dark One, but it didn’t.  It fell powerless.  There is no magic in it anymore.  It cannot control me.”

“Control you?” Rachel questioned, leaning forward, trying to understand what Danni was telling her.

“I am the new Dark One to my people.”

She paused hoping that her words would sink in and they would realize that she wasn’t as good as they believed her to be.  She was the Dark One.  She had no tether.  She had no qualms about killing someone.  She had no restrictions.  She was the most dangerous Dark One ever.

“And, what does that have to do with me?” Rachel inquired.

“How about I try it this way?  Snow White is my Grandmother.  Prince Charming is my Grandfather.  Their daughter Emma is one of my mothers.  The Evil Queen, Regina is my other mother.  Needless to say that my family tree is a little fucked up, but that is another history lesson.   Moving forward…Rumpelstiltskin was the original Dark One to my family.  He’d lived many years before his influence caused the great curse and his eventual downfall.”

“What happened?”

“He decided to fight against the powers of True Love and lost.  It wasn’t until I sacrificed my soul for the sake of my family and to change my fate as a child that I realized that I couldn’t hate my parents for dying to protect me.  It took a long time for me to come to grips with that and mostly my own sacrifice to see what they had really done for me.”

“Which was?” Rachel inquired.

“I became the Dark One.  I gave up my mortality in order to house the greatest Dark Magic within my body.  The night I came back to this realm, in that alley in New York.  I was fleeing my family.  Which is ironic because I had only just returned to them,” Danni explained.  “It was the night that Coraline died.  I could no longer bare a name that conjured feelings of love and belonging, and also so much pain.  It was the night that I began to draft the persona of Danielle ‘Danni’ Gallia from the Upstate.  “

“Why?”

“I didn’t trust myself to be with you that long.  I was lucky to have lasted as long as I did.  Rachel, you never saw what I did to that man…you never need to either, but it still haunts me the carnage that I inflicted upon him.  It was complete overkill and I knew it, but I didn’t care.  I was afraid of what I had become, but I knew that you weren’t going to let me go without a fight.  I left knowing that I could come back if I needed to.  But I needed time to myself to deal with the ramifications of what I had done to myself…my family and others around me.  I needed to find a calm.  I knew that you wouldn’t fully understand that and you would try to help.  You couldn’t help me.  My heart was slowly dying, figuratively and I needed to do something drastic in order to protect not only myself but others.  It wasn’t ideal and it was very painful for me.”

“What did you do?”

“I took out my broken heart, and put it in a place of safe keeping.   I knew that my emotions would suffer, but I’m made from love.   It would help me overcome some of it.   I wasn’t an ideal situation, but the pain…the emotional stress of what I was going through was too much to bear.   I couldn’t tell you what happened or what I had been through.  You would have thought me crazy.   I did what I had to do in order to survive, because I am the Survivor,” Danni stated.

Santana met Quinn’s gaze.  They weren’t sure what Danni meant by the statement, but they were willing to wait for her to explain.  They knew that there had to be a reasonable explanation even if it didn’t sound like to them.  Brittany cocked her head and gave them all a strange grin.  Her eyes immediately went to the box on the mantle.  Quinn and Belle both follow the gaze.

“Can I hold it?” Brittany asked.

“If you would like,” Danni replied standing.

She took two steps towards the fire place.  She picked up the ornate wooden box and turned around.  She stepped around the coffee table and sat down facing Santana and Brittany.  Her dark brown eyes never left the childlike fancy of Brittany’s bright blue eyes.  The wonder that shown there and the understanding were a paradox that could only be Brittany.  Her empathy for others was on another plane all together.  She saw things that others didn’t and it made her special.

Slowly, Danni opened the box.  She reached inside and pulled out the heart.  The beating could then be heard around the room.  The strong thump, thump was almost deafening.

Quinn gasped when she saw the half bright red and half darkened heart.  She watched as Danni caressed the organ as if it was the most precious thing she ever held.  Slowly she reached across the expanse and handed the heart to Brittany.  Brittany for her part took the heart with both hands and held it close to her body, almost as if she was afraid to drop it.

“It’s warm,” she stated breaking the silence.

They were all astonished by the split in the heart.  Quinn gave Belle a knowing glance.  Belle just nodded and they all just stared.

Brittany shifted on the couch and squeezed the heart.  Danni leaned forward, crying out in pain and anguish.  The veins in her neck popping as her face turned red.  She tried to speak but couldn’t as her body contorted and writhed in pain.  She almost fell off the table.

“Don’t squeeze it, Brittany!” Belle shouted.

She immediately uncurled her hands and Danni took a deep breath.  It was the first time that they had ever seen Danni really show any feelings towards pain.  She smiled up at Brittany, who immediately handed the heart back over to her.  Danni took the heart, but reached over to pat Brittany on the knee.

“It’s okay, Britt-Britt.  You didn’t know.  I...it won’t kill me.  It just hurts like Hell,” Danni told her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.  I am fine.  See.  I’m not in any pain.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, Britt-Britt.”

It seemed to be enough to calm the blond dancer.  Santana looked at her uneasily.  She heard the small growl growing in Santana’s throat.  She knew that Santana was very protective of Brittany and that Brittany hated to hurt anything.  There was a fiery warning in the Latina’s eyes and Danni heeded it.

“I’m fine.  And, the reason, I will always be fine is because of the power of the Dark One.  I can’t die.   It is just one of the perks of having the darkest power known in our realm inside my body,” Danni told them.

“What do you mean you can’t die?” Quinn asked meeting her gaze again.

“Haven’t you noticed that I am not aging?” Danni questioned in response.

“It’s not like I stare at you that hard,” Santana stated.

Danni laughed.  She hadn’t been with them long enough for them to understand what she meant.  She really wasn’t aging.  She didn’t get sick.  She had only gotten hurt when she hit that man in the alley.  She didn’t know why it was just then, but even she tested her theories about it after she’d returned to Storybrooke after leaving Rachel in New York.  What was it about Storybrooke and her that changed all the rules about magic?  Was there something that she picked up?  Was it the dagger?  Was it the fact that she’d removed her heart?

She thought about that for a moment.  She should have died as soon as she crossed the town line all those years ago.  Maybe it was her duality.  Maybe it was because was literally magic.  She didn’t know.  She didn’t have the answers and she doubted that Belle did, either.  It was a conundrum and one that she would pose to her mother, Regina once they were back in the Enchanted Forest.  It didn’t really matter now.  The only thing that mattered was that they were somewhat educated about what they might face.

“When was the last time you saw me hurt?” Danni asked them.

They looked between each other.  Brittany shrugged.  Santana looked deep in thought and then met her eyes.  The questions were dancing in her eyes, but she didn’t answer because she didn’t have one.  Quinn and Rachel just stared at her.  Their eyes were boring holes into side.

“The night the attack…” Rachel said quietly.

“When you came to me after you left New York…” Quinn added, finally betraying the fact that Danni had come to her after Rachel’s attack.

As soon as the words left Quinn’s mouth, everyone turned to stare at Quinn.  Santana and Rachel had an unspoken rule that they didn’t talk about it.  Months of therapy and many nights crying in Quinn’s arms after the “miraculously” appeared in New York had helped Rachel through the ordeal.  Santana was glaring at her best friend since they were in kindergarten.  How could she have not told any of them about it?  Brittany just gave them all a knowing smile.

“Don’t be mad with her, Rach.  Danni didn’t know she was coming back.  She was trying to make sure that you were okay.  She gave you something that you needed…that you wanted,” Brittany told them as she reached out for Rachel’s hand.

Rachel took the dancer’s hand and then looked into Quinn’s hazel eyes.  She noted the rich green flakes in the honeyed brown.  She was always mesmerized by the gold bits that floated around in them.  She felt a soothing calm flowing from Brittany while she was still trying to read the emotions that were swirling in Quinn’s expressive eyes.

“You knew?” she asked Quinn quietly.

Quinn never broke her gaze as she stepped around the chair and knelt before her.  She took Rachel’s other hand and she could the soothing aura that Brittany was given off, flowing through Rachel.  She looked at the dancer quickly who smiled, but didn’t let go of Rachel’s hand, before turning back to Rachel. 

“I asked her not to tell you,” Danni explained.  “It wasn’t her story to tell.  I gave her enough information for her to go to New York early.  She’d already paved a way to you without you knowing.  The attack just moved up her plans.”

“You were coming anyway?” Rachel asked her surprised.

“I told you before that I was going to school there.  I applied to NYU and Columbia for my Master’s.  I got into Columbia.  As soon as Danni came to me, I called Santana to let her know that I was coming sooner than I thought.  She didn’t tell me everything over the phone, but she told me enough and almost the same as what Danni told me.  I was on the next train.”

“But…”

“I’d already called Puckerman.  He was on his way to see Beth and Shelby in New York.  I needed to get my things here.  He took care of it for me.  I don’t know how and I didn’t ask.  Two days later he handed me keys to a storage shed and my new apartment.  Shelby seemed surprised at my quick move, but she never questioned it once she saw me with you.  She actually just gave me her blessing, telling me that we had both been through enough and now was our time to be together,” Quinn stated.

“But, you were at Yale…”

“I wanted to be with you.  Yale is a good school, so is Columbia.  I could have both.  You and school.  I was tired of hiding, Rachel.  I wanted to be with you,” Quinn explained.

Rachel was out of the chair and in her arms.  There were some sobs and sniffles, but they all knew that it wasn’t anything that they couldn’t get through together.  They had all stopped hiding that year.  They let their emotions flow.  They fought.  They made up.  But, together, all four of them spent the summer cementing their friendship and making a nonverbal pact to be there for each other no matter what life threw at them.  They would always have each other.

“But, when you came back, you never said…”

“I didn’t have to, Rachel.  I was different then.  You could see it.  Quinn could see it. Santana could see it.  Brittany could feel it.  I wasn’t Coraline who just appeared in the alley and helped you.  I wasn’t some random hero.  I was a person that was hurting and fighting her own demons.  You all recognized it.  You pulled me into your group and didn’t let go, even though and when you should have.  You’ve made me part of your little family and I have been eternally grateful for that.  You don’t know how much that meant to me…what you’ve helped me through, but this is different.  This time, it will be me protecting you,” Danni stated.

“What against?” Santana asked.

“Everything that you could think of.”

“Okay…we’ll come back to that, what about the not dying thing?  What about that?  Why would you say that?  I get that you have magic and all that shit.  We’ve seen it, but nothing is immortal, Danni.  What shit did you put in your coffee this morning?” Santana barked out.

“There was nothing in my coffee but soy milk and sugar.”

Santana gave her a look.  Brittany finally let go of Rachel’s hand as Danni stood up and went back to the hearth.  She reached into the fire and pulled out a small branch that was alit.  She held it up in front of her face.  They all the saw the haunted mesmerizing stare that she was giving the branch. 

“Care for a demonstration?” she asked them.

Without warning, she turned the branch on herself.  She burned her arm from her elbow to her hand.  She didn’t scream out but the putrid smell of burnt flesh filled the room.  She knew that this was over the top, but it was nothing compared to what she did to her mothers when she plunged the dagger into her chest.  No, this was just theatrical and something that they could understand as they saw it.  It was visceral and in their face.

“Stop!” Rachel cried out, almost in completed shock, as she reached out for Danni and the burning piece of wood.

Santana watched on in awe as she rocked a crying Brittany at the scene.  Quinn had grabbed Rachel around the waist to keep her from the burning branch.  She knew somewhere deep inside her that this was the only way that Danni could convince them of what was to come.  She needed to be outlandish and over the top.  She needed them to question everything they thought they knew and she needed them to make a choice…one that would affect them all.

Danni pulled the burning branch away from her skin.  Rachel looked at the burnt flesh in horror as the charred and blistered skin began to fade from black to pink.  Her eyes about bugged out of her head as they watched Danni’s skin heal itself and return to its natural color.  She held her arm out for Rachel and Brittany to see that there was no damage.  Brittany stopped crying and reached out to touch her.

“Go ahead, Britt-Britt.  You won’t hurt me.  I am fine,” Danni told her.

Santana let the dancer go and she grabbed Danni’s arm.  She carefully inspected it to make sure that there wasn’t a single hair singed, a blister that needed to be cared for, or a mark left from the demonstration.  When she was satisfied that Danni was okay, she pulled her into a fierce hug.

“You don’t have to go that far to prove yourself to us,” Brittany scolded her.

“At least she didn’t kill herself in front of you,” Belle stated.

They all turned to the auburn-haired older woman.  Her blue eyes were fiercely meeting each of theirs.  She wasn’t going to back down.  She loved Danni and would protect her, even if it was from herself.  They all realized how deeply having Danni back in her life was affecting her. 

“Belle…”

“There is no time for that, Danni.  We need to figure out how we are going to get back.  We don’t have a lot of time.  Ruby is hurting and we haven’t figure out how to stop it.  Or, have you forgotten why I came back for you?”

“What about Mom and Ma?” Danni asked, not caring that the others were still there.

“We’ll deal with that later.”

“Are they still scared of me?” Danni questioned quietly, almost defeated.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Danni replied.

“Would you forsake your family because of one mistake?” Belle asked her.

“No.”

“Then it doesn’t matter.”

Danni sighed.  Belle was right.  She needed to go home and save Ruby, because possibly she was the only one that could.  If she managed to heal things with the rest of her family, then so be it.

“I have a way.”

“You do?”

“Yes, it’s beside the well.  I’ve hidden them and started a small grove just near the line through the forest.  It is so far from town that no one would know that it was there if they weren’t deliberately looking for it.  I wasn’t going to leave completely without an escape plan.  You taught me that much.  Why do you think that I trusted you with information that I didn’t give anyone else?  Why do you think I gave you that gift, as small as it might have been?”

“That gift?  It wasn’t small.  It was life altering.”

“I could take it back if you wish…”

“Then I would have forgotten you,” Belle reminded her.

They shared a look knowing that no one else in the room knew their complete history.  Danni was sorry that Belle still continued to know who she was even after her “death.”  She hadn’t meant for the magic to link them in such a way, but Danni learned from that.  She never gave anyone else a piece of her magic again. 

“Anyway…” Danni started, shaking her head before she continued, “I have a small crop of beans that I have been cultivating.  There should be plenty for us to use.  And, by plenty, I mean a handful.  I know that we will only need one, but taking extra is never a bad thing.”

“And, you did promise to take them to Oz,” Belle reminded her.

“I don’t think that Zelena would be happy to see me.  But, a promise is a promise.  They are going to be sorely disappointed, though,” Danni said walking out of the room with Belle on her heels effectually ending her demonstration.

Santana waited until she was out of the room to ask, “Did she just honestly burn herself for us?”

“She did,” Quinn replied.

“Did she say something about taking us to Oz?” Santana questioned.

“Yes, because Brittany and I want to go,” Rachel added.

“And, no one sees a problem with this?” Santana quipped.

“Oh, I see plenty wrong with it.  But, this is Danni we’re talking about.  She would do anything for us and we really going to let a few fairy tales keep us from helping her.  I mean, I know that she is trying to warn us about the dangers of the Enchanted Forest, but how bad could it really be?  We’ve all survived a lot.  I am going,” Quinn stated.

“I am in, too,” Rachel added.

“I want to see the unicorns, San,” Brittany told her with a pout.

“I know, honey, but this isn’t going to be some picnic.  You all understand that right?  We may have to fight something or we might get hurt.  Besides we are going to meet her family.  I mean, we are going to meet freaking Snow White,” Santana said.

“I know isn’t it going to be great?” Brittany inquired with her childlike abandon as the rest of them just smiled, knowing exactly what Santana meant.


End file.
